It’s a time of last moments. We are soon going to be leaving Malaysia and KL, and as the date draws closer, every moment is bittersweet.

Leaving a country isn’t like moving across town, even though logistically it is: stuff goes in boxes, boxes move, you and boxes appear in next home. For expats though, the boxes move on a (statistically not that safe, so please don’t fall off, stuff) container ship, thousands of miles on their way to a house that we haven’t found yet, in a country we visited once in 2008. And that is just the stuff! Add in work, school, friends and all those goodbyes and everything changes. The most familiar thing about the experience is knowing the unfamiliarity that is coming when we get to our new country. That, and the last moments.

The last time I will drive my beloved truck. Take my daughter to her wonderfully warm and welcoming school. Get a coffee at my favourite place. Do my food shopping at one of the best supermarkets in the world. Bump into a friend as I walk around a mall. Eat at my favourite restaurant. As an expat you KNOW these moments are coming, so you can savour them (and if you’re me, Instagram it too, obvs) and plan them and make sure that everyone knows what is happening. But it doesn’t mean it’s not a little heartbreaking. And sometimes it isn’t the loss of the favourite things that make you sad; it is as simple as losing the knowledge of a place. Its quirks, good and bad.

This wonderful country has seen so many important moments in my life, that a piece of me will always be thinking of frangipanis and palm trees, crazy driving and air conditioned malls, the heat that seeps into your bones and the friends that I’ve let into my heart.

But don’t think that it’s all sadness. With every moment I am nostalgic for, even as I experience it (I bet the Germans have a word for that) I am thinking of the firsts to come… The first time I know I have a new friend. Find a coffee place I like. Know that my daughter is happy at school. Get the internet connected!

A bit of my heart will always be in Malaysia, but I have plenty of heart left. Here’s to the next location!

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